Youth Gambling - perception among professionals in the social welfare system

U radu je prikazan dio rezultata većeg istraživanja „Kockanje mladih – percepcija stručnjaka pomagačkih profesija”, provedenog temeljem potpore istraživanjima Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, a čiji je voditelj bio izv. prof. dr. sc. Neven Ricijaš. Istraživanje je bilo usmjereno na stjecanje uvida u percepciju stručnjaka pomagačkih profesija iz različitih sektora intervencija (socijalna skrb, pravosuđe, zdravstvo, obrazovanje i NVO) o temama vezanim uz kockanja mladih i njihovu samoprocjenu kompetentnosti za pružanje intervencija u njihovoj nadležnosti. Ovaj rad usmjeren je samo na stručnjake iz sustava socijalne skrbi i njihovu percepciju kockanja mladih te eventualne razlike obzirom na vlastiti stav prema kockanju. Prigodan uzorak istraživanja je činilo ukupno N=107 ispitanika iz sustava socijalne skrbi iz većine županija u Hrvatskoj. Stručnjaci su temeljem ATGS-8 skale bili podijeljeni u dvije skupine prema vlastitom stavu prema kockanju. Ukupno ih je n=53 ušlo u skupinu „negativniji stav”, dok je njih n=54 rezultatima smješteno u skupinu „umjereno pozitivan stav” prema kockanju. Za potrebe rada korištena su područja koja se odnose na opće i sociodemografske podatke, pitanja o učestalosti rada stručnjaka s pojedinim vrstama rizičnog ponašanja, upitnik uvjerenja stručnjaka o mladim problematičnim kockarima, ATGS-8 skala osobnog stava prema kockanju, pitanja o kontroli, dostupnosti i pristupačnosti tržišta igara na sreću i pitanja informiranosti stručnjaka o dostupnosti intervencija u području kockanja mladih. Podaci su prikupljani tijekom veljače i ožujka 2018. godine na način da je postavljena online anketa koju se potom ciljano slalo potencijalnim sudionicima ovog istraživanja. Rezultatima istraživanja pokazali smo da stručnjaci percipiraju vrlo rijetko susreću s problemima vezanima za kockanje, generalno prepoznaju kockanje kao aktivnost koju ne treba poticati i prepoznaju da kockanje općenito predstavlja rizik za mlade, ali nisu dovoljno upoznati s time koliko je ono riskantno za mlade specifično. Razlike u osobnim stavovima stručnjaka pokazale su se značajnima u nekim elementima percepcije ponašanja i vjerovanja o mladim rizičnim kockarima i u procjeni nadzora nad tržištem igara na sreću te dostupnosti i pristupačnosti tržišta kockanja mladima, ali ne i u procjeni dostupnosti maloljetnim osobama Stručnjaci općenito nisu dobro upoznati s (ne)postojanjem tretmanskih programa za mlade s razvijenim problemima u kockanju u Hrvatskoj, međutim oni koji znaju da preventivni program postoji, dobro su s njime upoznati.The paper presents a part of the results of a larger research “Youth gambling: perception of mental health professionals” which was carried out under the auspice of University of Zagreb research support with professor Neven Ricijaš, PhD as the lead reasercher. The aim of the research was to gain insight into the perception of mental health professionals from different sectors (Social welfare, justice, health, education and non governmental) regarding youth gambling and their self-assessment of competences. The aim of this paper is to gauge the perception of youth gambling and potential differences of it by professionals in the social welfare system, based on their personal attitudes towards gambling. The sample is non-representative, with a total of N=107 professionals from social welfare system responding to the questionnaire, coming from most regions of Croatia. The professionals were divided into two groups relating to their personal beliefs and attitudes towards gambling based on their score on ATGS-8 scale. In total, n=53 professionals were placed in “more negative attitudes” group and n=54 in “moderately positive attitudes” group. Scales and measurements that were used were: general and socio demographic information, frequency of work with different risky behaviours, a questionnaire on personal attitudes towards youth gamblers, an ATGS-8 scale of personal gambling attitudes, questions about supervision of gambling industry, availability and accessibility of gambling, and questions about knowledge of interventions and treatment of youth gamblers in Croatia. The data was collected during the months of February and March of 2018 via an online survey that was sent to prospective participants of the study. The results show that professionals perceive they rarely work with youth who have gambling problems, generally see gambling as a behaviour that should not be encouraged and as a potential risk for youth, but are not sufficiently informed about how great of a risk it is to young people specifically. The differences in personal beliefs of professionals have shown to be a significant factor in perception of some elements of behaviour and attitudes about youth gamblers, in perception of supervision of gambling industry and the availability of gambling. These have not shown to be significant in perception of availability of gambling among underage children. Professionals are, generally, not well informed about the treatment programmes for underage gamblers in Croatia and lack thereof, but those who say they know of a prevention programme can correctly name the only existing one